Revenue cycle management is not something that most medical professionals understand, but it is a concept that is very near and dear to the bottom line of each medical practice. These days, medical practice management is being split up into two segments: managing the daily operations of the office and managing the way the practice does business. These are two separate functions and they both require full-time attention, which is why RCM outsourcing is on the rise.

Medical providers make most of their revenue by successfully processing claims, and claims mistakes affect the bottom line. Fortunately, many claims are preventable and recoverable. Successfully preventing billing mistakes and appealing a denied or rejected claim often has to do with the quality of the medical billing software a practice uses.

With Halloween just around the corner, you surely have seen the various blog posts with Halloween ICD-10 codes. Since ICD-10 go live was this year, we decided to take it to another level. We thought we'd pair a few spooky codes with a costume. On the off chance you still haven't decided what you'll dress up as this year, feel free to snatch up one from this list of the top 5 ICD-10 codes with costumes.

While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a year's grace period this summer when it comes to claims coded with ICD-10, not all large commercial payers are following suit.

According to the CMS announcement, during the 12 months immediately following the October 1, 2015, date, “Medicare review contractors will not deny physician or other practitioner claims billed under the Part B physician fee schedule through either automated medical review or complex medical record review based solely on the specificity of the ICD-10 diagnosis code as long as the physician/practitioner used a valid code from the right family.”

Payment disputes are a fact of life for most medical practices. With the increasing number of high deductible health plans, Americans are struggling over medical debt and putting more of their take-home pay into medical costs than ever. Asurvey by NerdWalletfound out that Americans pay three times more for third party collection of medical debt than for credit card and bank debt combined. In 2014, around 20% of American adults were contacted by debt collection agencies because of medical bills.

Even when Americans expect sizable medical bills, they're often surprised by just how sizable they are. The NerdWallet survey found that 63% of Americans say they've received medical bills that were higher than they expected. From 2010 to 2013, American median household income fell by $2,300, yet healthcare expenses during that time increased by $1,814, and out-of-pocket healthcare spending is expected to experience annual growth of double the GDP growth for the next several years. It's no wonder billing disputes between medical practices and patients are so common. Here's what you can do to prevent and cope successfullywith billing disputes.

The process of medical transcription is how the files representing patient histories, diagnoses and treatments are built. To perhaps oversimplify, healthcare practitioners dictate the particulars of their interaction with patients and medical transcriptionists may transcribe the oral dictation or edit reports that are generated by speech recognition software.

Despite the fact that more Americans have health insurance, many still struggle to pay their medical bills due to the increasing number of high deductible health plans. Collecting from self-pay patients can be also be costly for a medical practice since it typically takes more time and hassle.

Tomorrow ICD-10 will replace the current classification system, ICD-9. Whether you're ready or not, ICD-9 codes will no longer be accepted on claims. Claims with ICD-9 codes after October 1 will be denied without payment. While surveys indicating readiness for the ICD-10 transition vary, one thing is for sure: ICD-10 will dramatically impact medical billing and cash flow.

With ICD-10 just 3 days away, healthcare providers and practices should be gearing up for the biggest change in healthcare to occur in decades. However, there seems to be a lot of debate and confusion surrounding the CMS announcement of a “grace period” with ICD-10. If you haven’t yet heard of the “grace period” it is intended to alleviate some of the concern surrounding the additional time physicians will need to spend on documenting with the new ICD-10 code set.

The change from the ICD-9 coding standard to ICD-10 will affect healthcare provider cash flow from several different angles. In fact, you could do everything "right" in the lead-up to ICD-10 and still face problems with revenue cycle management. But knowing where and how ICD-10 will make an impact can help you prepare and do your best to minimize problems.

Paper superbills have been as much a part of many medical practices as stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs over the past few decades. And despite increasing prevalence of electronic health records (EHRs), more than half of physician practices today still use paper superbills. That's because they're flexible and powerful and do their job well.

Adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) is continuing apace as medical providers cope with a dizzying array of new regulations and demands from third party payers. Some healthcare providers have resisted implementing EHRs for fear of lower productivity, which they believe will lead to a reduced patient load and revenue.

Reactions to the looming changeover from ICD-9 coding standard to ICD-10 scheduled to take place October 1 range from general confidence to serious worry. There is little debate that ICD-10 is better. It will make codes more meaningful, allowing medical practices to pack more information into a simple code. This will make it easier to track individual health problems as well as societal health trends.

Change is difficult, even if it is ultimately a positive change. ICD-10 is one of the biggest changes to hit healthcare in decades and the deadline is getting closer and closer. The upcoming transition from the ICD-9 coding standard to ICD-10 will lead to more accurate tracking of individual and population health trends, and will allow much greater specificity in medical coding. But there's no question that the transition will be challenging.